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A review by katiescho741
The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
3.0
2.5 stars.
This is less a bout about a disease than it is a book about scientific investigation and data gathering.
The most interesting bit of the book, for me, was the starting couple of chapters which talk about the conditions of London during the period, and how diseases like cholera cropped up again and again. The descriptions of the living conditions are detailed and terrible, but it was interesting to read about the eco side of life too - the lives of the scavengers who collected rubbish to be sold and re-used instead of clogging up the street.
Not quite a history of cholera as I had hoped, but there is plenty of good information in this book. The second half was a bit boring to be honest though.
This is less a bout about a disease than it is a book about scientific investigation and data gathering.
The most interesting bit of the book, for me, was the starting couple of chapters which talk about the conditions of London during the period, and how diseases like cholera cropped up again and again. The descriptions of the living conditions are detailed and terrible, but it was interesting to read about the eco side of life too - the lives of the scavengers who collected rubbish to be sold and re-used instead of clogging up the street.
Not quite a history of cholera as I had hoped, but there is plenty of good information in this book. The second half was a bit boring to be honest though.